JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) announced today members of the Mississippi Student Testing Task Force that will examine current student testing on the state and local school district levels and to determine best practices for monitoring student progress in meeting grade-level and subject area learning goals.

Mississippi high school students, who will be seniors in the fall, have an opportunity to apply to be a member of the task force. Four students, one from each congressional district, will be selected to represent their peers in discussions about how to ensure the state prepares them for college, the work force or the military.

The first monthly meeting of the task force is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 19 in the 4th floor boardroom of the Central High School Building. Meetings of the task force will be live streamed and archived. The task force will produce a report on its findings and recommendations by December 2018.

The MDE will be accepting public comment on student testing at the following address: testingtaskforce@mdek12.org. All comments will be posted online each month.

Dr. Howard Savage Jr., 2018 Administrator of the Year, principal of Quitman High School

Robert Sanders, principal, Mendenhall High School

Dr. Jessica Broome, 2017 Administrator of the Year, principal of Pearl Junior High School

Whitney Drewrey, 2018 Teacher of the Year, 3rd – 5th grade special education teacher at Lafayette Upper Elementary School, Lafayette County School District

Luke Daniels, 2017 Teacher of the Year, 6th grade mathematics teacher at Petal Upper Elementary in the Petal School District

Lora Rance Evans, 2016 Parent of the Year, Greenwood Public School District

Kelly Riley, executive director, Mississippi Professional Educators

Joyce Helmick, president, Mississippi Association of Educators

Rep. Randy Boyd, R-Mantachie

Steven Hampton, research and accountability director, Lamar County Schools

Krystal Cormack, chair, Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board

Dr. Jay Smith, retired Long Beach School District superintendent

Ex-officio members

Dr. Kim Benton, chief academic officer, MDE

Dr. Paula Vanderford, chief accountability officer, MDE

Dr. Christy Hovanetz, Foundation for Excellence in Education

Dr. Chris Domaleski, associate director, Center for Assessment

Rebecca Staples, Lieutenant Governor’s Office

T.J. Taylor, Speaker of the House’s Office

The task force will discuss student assessments with the goals of determining the types, quality and amount of tests students take on the state and district level and making recommendations on ways to ensure student testing is streamlined but measures the learning goals designed by Mississippi teachers.

More information and resources on student testing can be found on the MDE website.